Brunswick Corp. is broadening its ACES (autonomous, connected, electrified, shared) strategy with the addition of Boating Intelligence, an initiative that incorporates artificial intelligence features into products “to deliver simpler, safer, smarter and more sustainable boating.”
To accelerate the vision for Boating Intelligence, Brunswick is relaunching its i-Jet Lab at the University of Illinois Research Park. It will be renamed the Boating Intelligence Design Lab, under the direction of Jeff Reifsnyder.
The lab is supporting development of Brunswick’s autonomous docking technology, and advancing work on AI-powered virtual agents and other applications that will provide smart assistance to people operating boats and members of Freedom Boat Club.
“Our ACES strategy has matured over the past five years with many products, like our Avator electric outboards, Fathom power management system and CZone mobile connectivity solution already in production,” CEO Dave Foulkes said in a statement. “We see an opportunity to embed AI functionality as one focus for our next phase of advanced technology and feature development, creating an opportunity for boats to evolve from an experiential product to an experiential partner.”
Brunswick said it plans to showcase its initial work with Boating Intelligence at next year’s Consumer Electronics Show.
“Boating Intelligence can be manifested through the entire Brunswick portfolio of products and services, through integrated, smart and intelligent technologies that amplify the boating experience,” Brenna Preisser, Brunswick executive vice president and president, business acceleration. “We see AI emerging into boating to help augment and simplify many activities and reduce the complexity of operating and navigating a boat. Freedom Boat Club provides a unique platform to develop and exploit these possibilities.”
